The most amazing husband ever!

I seriously have the most amazing husband of all time.

I have been wanting one of those old-school vanities. You know, the ones that you can sit at to do your hair and makeup junk? Anyhow, hubby took me shopping at pretty much every furniture store in town looking for one. We got the same answer everywhere- we don't sell that kind of thing. That day I learned just how old-fashioned (a.k.a. un-hip) I am. So we looked online, and the only vanities I liked cost a thousand dollars plus five hundred dollars shipping to boot. Hellllooooo!!! My husband is going to grad school and I make about $9.50 an hour. Needless to say, we can't afford that. Yes I was disappointed, but not too much. It just became one of those "someday" things.

My husband surprised me though! He decided to get creative and look at D.I. (Deseret Industries is sort of like Good Will but much cleaner.) He found a desk, a chair, and a mirror. Granted all of them were in crappy condition, but that didn't phase him. He decided since they were sturdy he could strip them down and refinish them to make them work. So this is my new vanity! If you had seen the condition of these pieces before, you wouldn't believe they were the same thing.

Isn't my hubby amazing? He loves me a heck of a lot to do this for me!

Adoption Interview Scheduled!

We just wanted to update you on our little piece of exciting news. Today we scheduled an appointment for our intake interview with LDSFS. Woohoo! We're meeting with our caseworker on October 3rd. That's a week from Friday! I'm already starting to feel nervous.

Our Big Project

For about 8 months, hubby and I have been undertaking a mammoth-sized project. Well, it was mammoth-sized to us anyway. If you are a member of my extended family, then you will most likely recognize where we got the idea from. Anyhow, here's the quick story behind it for all of you who aren't members of our biological family. When I was little, my grandma made one of these little rocking chairs for each of her kids' families. As a child, it was one of the most precious, prized toys in our home. At least to me anyway. I have many fond memories of family movie nights, reading, rocking back and forth as far as I could go (nearly killing myself), all sitting in that chair. So, thank you Grandma! And because I loved it so much, hubby and I took a pattern from it (yes, it's still around at my parents' place and in great condition). So far, we have made and given away seven little chairs to our family. We're also going to make one for each of our children when we have them. Including our little angel in heaven. His chair will remain in our room with his teddy bear and blanket to keep it warm. Here are a few pictures of some of the chairs we have made so far along with some of my nieces and nephews who received them. Hubby cuts the pieces of the chair, stains them, and laquers them. I hand paint them and burn a message into the underside of the seat. Some people have suggested that we could sell them if we came up with our own cartoon designs to paint on the back. I'm not sure if there would really be an interest in purchasing them. What do you think? Maybe we could do this to fundraise for our adoption?

A little tidbit

The adoption secretary told us that we are currently being assigned a caseworker, and we should hear from him/her by the end of next week. Of course, it is LDSFS, so that means it could be an additional week longer than what they say, but it's still exciting to us!

A small step forward in the adoption process

We've made a little progress as far as the adoption process goes. We finished filling out the initial application, and our bishop filled out the questionnaire and sent it in. Now I guess we just wait to hear from LDS Family Services. Obviously, this is just the beginning, and we have a LONG road ahead of us. But we're excited that we got this much done! It feels good to make progress.

As far as our weight-loss goes, we had disappointing results on Saturday. Neither of us lost any weight. I guess we hit a plateau. But I won't let it discourage me. I know it happens to everybody. I'm determined to make this week better though.

So here are the results so far:

Me: 18 lbs lost
Hubby: 9 lbs lost

Other than that, nothing much is going on. I'm still loving my job. Today I taught one of my clients the beginning of the Veggie Tales song. He thought it was great, and I got a kick out of it. Every day I'm amazed how much I learn from my clients. A few days ago, the parent of one of our clients passed away. Today was her first day back at the center and it was so touching to watch all of the other clients hug her and try to cheer her up. I felt like I was witnessing true Christlike charity in action.

Well, I suppose that's it for now!

Another week of success!

We have had another successful week with weight-loss! For the first time EVER I actually believe that it is possible to achieve my goal. Here are the newest stats as of Saturday morning.

My week's weight loss: 3 lbs
My new total: 18 lbs lost
And... drumroll please....
Hubby's week's weight loss: 9 lbs
Hubby's new total: 9 lbs lost

Pretty amazing for his first week, huh?!? I am so jealous. I've been working on losing weight for literally months, and in one week Hubby accomplishes half of my total. I'm so proud of him though.

I'm also excited because I got a new job! Tomorrow will be my second day. I am responsible for supervising and assisting disabled adults to become more independent. I think it will be a really rewarding job. Some of the best parts are: it pays well, the hours are great (M-F 9:00 am-3:00 pm), and I have all holidays and weekends off. This job is an answer to our prayers. Now I can earn some money in a job I love, and still get to spend lots of time with hubby.

WooHoo!!!

Hubby has decided that he wants to lose weight with me, so we're switching our weigh-in day from Monday to Saturday. (That's just because Hubby preferred it that way.) Anyway, so as of yesterday, I have lost 4 more pounds! I guess the new routine is paying off! So... the new total is:

Number of Pounds Lost: 15
Number of Pounds Still to Lose: 85

Yay me for losing 15 lbs! After 10 more lbs, I get a reward. (I get a reward after every 25 lbs I lose, and when I get to 100 lbs I get a really awesome reward including a new wardrobe!) Hopefully it will come off faster now that I'm bike riding each day and working out at the sports club.

Big Changes

In a previous post, I mentioned that our recent attempt at conception failed. Since then, I have made some big evaluations on life. I have decided to quit being ridiculous and putting everything on hold. I can't base my life upon the slim possibility that I MIGHT get pregnant. So... we're giving ourselves a break from all infertility treatments for at least one month. Possibly longer. I'm not even BBT charting! What a relief! And I'm going to do all the things I've been putting off.

For starters, we're both going to get healthy. I got a part-time trade position at a local sports club. Basically, I just have to do laundry 4 hours per week and I get a free family membership. You should see how amazing this place is! Some of the features are: an indoor pool, basketball court, track, and tennis court, an outdoor pool, basketball court, and tennis court, all the sports equipment you could ever want, a TON of classes which I can take for free, and the most gorgeous women's bathroom EVER. Seriously, the bathroom has a sauna/steam room, a hot tub, a lounge with television, a bunch of vanities, etc... I am so excited about this. We also purchased bicycles. Every day, Malone and I have been riding our bikes. Basically, we're trying to replace as much driving time in our car with bike riding. And, we have been riding together in the evenings just for fun! So, we save money on gas, get healthier, and improve our relationship! I don't see a down-side, do you?

Other than that, I'm also looking for a job. Tomorrow I have two job interviews. The first one is at a ficility that cares for mildly disabled adults. Basically, my job would be to supervise clients in daily activities. AKA, get them to work, take them to the movies, etc... The best part about it is that the company pays you and pays for you to go do fun stuff. The one concern that I have is whether or not I would be responsible for behavioral disability clients. AKA the ones who have violent tendencies. I'm planning on asking about that at the interview tomorrow. The other interview is at a craft store. Which, if you know me, is right up my alley. I don't care too much for sewing or scrapbooking, but I LOVE tole painting, wood working, holiday decorating, cake decorating, etc... Hopefully I'll get an offer from one of them. I'll just have to wait and see!